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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

3 Year Blogiversary (My Favorite Year So Far)

Way back on June 16th was my 3 year blogiversary. It slipped right by without any fanfare, but I really wanted to celebrate this past year. I never imagined Cooker Girl would be anything more than a place to document recipes, but it's become so much more for me! I wanted to point out a few things that have happened because of this blog (directly or indirectly).

I've met a lot of really great people through blogging and Twitter. I've even made some new friends that I see pretty regularly.

Cleveland Magazine chose my blog to be part of the 32 Most Entertaining Blogs. All the blogs went through a March Madness-style voting brackets. I got into the Top 8 and ended up being #2 in the Food and Drink category! Thanks again for your votes!

I won a Hunger Games recipe contest with my Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables recipe (aka Roast Groosling). My prize was a cookbook (Lidia's Italy in America), but because the Plain Dealer was delayed in sending the prize, they threw in an extra cookbook. I love Lidia Bastianich! She's in my top 3 favorite celebrity chefs along with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. (By the way, Jacques is coming to Cleveland for the Fabulous Food Show in November!)

Earlier this year I started baking for a cause, for two causes actually. Two of my siblings were cycling in the Tour de Cure for Diabetes and I volunteered baked goods in exchange for donations. The other recipients of baked goods have been US military troops through Operation Baking Gals.

Last, but certainly not least! I started baking for people outside of the family. Thanks to some nudging from friends, I've turned my passion into a little side business. I'm currently working on a "menu" to put on the site. Let me know if you need any bakery!

Salted Caramels and Chocolate Cake Balls

I had stickers made so I can put them on my bakery boxes, etc.

Totally unrelated to the blog, but still something significant was a trip to Europe last fall. Kevin and I spent three weeks in France and Italy. It was completely amazing, a trip of a lifetime!

Siena, Italy (Tuscany)

A few random facts before I let you go:

- Cooker Girl's third year had more posts than the two previous years combined!

- This is my 100th post!
- Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday.

So there you have it, it's been quite a year! Thank you so much for reading!

CONGRATULATIONS! You've had an impressive year and I think it's very inspiring especially for other bloggers that share their cooking and baking adventures that you are taking the next step with your baking. I can't wait to get my Cooker Girl creation!

I am so proud of you! This is the BEST post! I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for the future. My favorite thing about blogging is making new wonderful friends like you and Kevin - love you!!!